I had quite high hopes for this British crime film. "Payroll" has promise without being exactly unpredictable or creative in the plot department. Unfortunately, I found this film to be mainly tedious and uneventful. A poor narrative doesn't exactly help. A good cast has gone to waste. Billie Whitelaw - a fine actress - has next to nothing to do throughout the whole story. She swears vengeance against the gang in question but spends most of her time in twiddling her thumbs! The opening 20 minutes is pretty good. After the robbery scene though, it is downhill all the way. The film just seems to plod along aimlessly. The running time of 105 minutes is far too long and should have been about 15 minutes shorter. The bloke who played the investigating police officer is absolutely hopeless! He has no screen presence, no charisma and is so wooden you could knock nails into him. Where was John Gregson when he was needed?? He would have made something of the same role. "Payroll" is supposed to be set in Newcastle. However, there is no one who can put on a reasonably convincing Geordie accent. Definitely not worth seeing again.

This is a many-layered story and it's this which keeps it riveting for the audience. Johnny Mellors (Craig) is a career criminal. He likes to have all the facts before hitting his mark. The biggest mark of his career is the payroll of a large factory, over one-hundred-thousand pounds. Unfortunately, on the day of the hit a couple of motorcycle police ride up just as they are about to put their plan into action. Then to make matters worse, their inside man, Dennis Pearson (Lucas), informs them of the companies decision to employ an armoured car for the wage run. Unable to turn down such a big score Mellors and his men start to stake out the armoured car...This is only the beginning, some writers and directors would make a movie just about the heist. Though, what Baxt and Hayers give the viewers is the aftermath of the heist itself. So we have the police, chasing after the criminals, though evidence and clues are running thin. A wife, hellbent on revenge. Another wife, cunningly trying to get the better of every man in her life, who she pities, hates, and doesn't trust,.. just to get the money. A man who cannot handle guilt and mentally breaks down. All of these characters are well rounded and written.The good thing is that the actors are brilliant in their roles and bring them to life. Craig is believable as the leader of the gang. This guy is methodical and cool. Though if you get on the wrong side of him he will break you in two... without blinking. Whitelaw is one of the strongest in the cast. When she sets out on her mission of revenge the look on her face says it all. This woman is a juggernaut with a one-track mind and will not stop until she has her revenge. Francoise Prevost has an air of a clever and cunning woman. Always thinking, always planning, who will do anything to better her life... but can she be more wily or slick as Mellors? And, William Lucas does scared, anxious, and frightened magnificently.But there's still more. Director, Hayers, is great in his field. There are plenty of interesting camera shots, angles, and iconic photography. All of which add power to the film. To be honest, this is a masterpiece in modern film noir, though it's old now as it was filmed in 1961 - it is still a great watch.Now, I'm not a great jazz fan but the soundtrack to the movie is outstanding and used to it's fullest potential. It has the power to pull the viewer in and make them feel the excitement and tension of a scene. I was surprised by how much I liked this element of the movie.I would recommend this to everyone.

Payroll is directed by Sidney Hayers and adapted to screenplay by George Baxt from the novel written by Derek Bickerton. It stars Michael Craig, Françoise Prévost, Billie Whitelaw, William Lucas, Kenneth Griffith, Tom Bell and Barry Keegan. Music is by Reg Owen and cinematography by Ernest Steward. A vicious gang of crooks raid an armoured van carrying the wages of the local factory. When all doesn't go to plan and the driver of the van is killed, the gang start to come apart from within, just as the police and a vengeful widow close in on them... As tough as old boots! Out of Beaconsfield Studios, Payroll is the kind of British neo-noir that is adored by those that have seen it and yet it still remains a sleeper. Set up in the North East of England in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, there's a real sense of working class struggle pulsing through the picture. The character dynamics at work are nothing new in the history of the heist gone wrong movie, but the makers here insert two ladies into the equation and let them be prominent antagonists, and with some conviction as well. Time is afforded build up of characters, letting us into home lives and the planning of the crime, and then bam! It's the robbery and it pulls no punches. Story is not without violence, and murders are coldly executed, and as the band of thieves begin to crack, led by ice cold scumbag Johnny Mellors (Craig), director Hayers puts them into a world of grim alleyways, terrace houses, back street pubs, sweat stained garages, marshy bogs and an imposing dockside ripe for a denouement. The mood is firmly set at fatalistic realism, and as Hayers tightens the noose around the dwindling gang of thieves, and Reg Owen's jazzy score flits around the drama (love that ominous double bass), we are led to a wholly satisfactory conclusion. Cast are great, especially the wonderful Whitelaw, and Steward's photography is crisp and on the money. 8/10 Footnote: Some scenes were filmed in Rugby, Warwickshire, so it's not exclusively on location in Newcastle. And of course as any Geordie will tell you, there's a distinct lack of Geordie accents in the picture.

Fifty years on, this film comes across as badly dated and as such is interesting rather than particularly enjoyable. The characters' lack of authenticity is surprising given that TV's 'Coronation Street' was already going strong and 'Room at the Top' had come out two years earlier, but RADA accents are the order of the day here. And disappointingly little is made of the Newcastle locations beyond a few shots of the Tyne bridges.As for the story, the stormy relationship between the two 'bad' characters played by Craig and Prevost carries most tension despite being developed rather late, with the vengeful widow element working less well.